Crossword
by SongOnTheBreeze
Summary: Shikamaru has a new hobby, and needs a little help from his dad./ Just a silly little oneshot I came up with. Very short. Please R and R.


I seem to get inspiration for fics out of the wierdest and most ordinary things. This fic is no exception. The inspiration for this oneshot short? A _very _strange dream about crossword puzzles. It has no plot what so ever, but oh well.

My spelling and grammar check isn't working, so I apologize for any mistakes ahead of time.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. I do, however, own this dream. Which means I am a very strange person indeed.

Enjoy, and please review.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru Nara leaned back in his chair, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, as he pondered over the word that kept escaping his thoughts.<p>

He searched carefully through the mental files of his brain, trying to reel in the stubborn word that kept slinking away everytime he got close to grasping it. He thought for a moment that he had won his silent, inner battle with the infuriating little answer, and grinned as he almost had it in his clutches. But the stubborn little bugger scuttled away again, laughing at him.

Finally, he let out a noise of satisfaction, then scribbled the word down onto the line of boxes on his paper. He momentarily savored his heroic victory, then moved onto his next enemy: a very formidable-looking verb.

From across the dining room table, Shikaku Nara looked up from his morning paper to watch his son as he continued his daring battle onward into the teriffying world of vocabulary.

Shikaku raised an eyebrow as the younger Nara narrowed his eyes in concentration for a few moments, muttered something under his breath, pulled a disturbingly wicked grin onto his face, then quickly scribbled something down onto the paper in front of him and fell back into his look of concentration.

The elder Nara was beggining to wonder if his son had lost his marbles.

"Uh, Shikamaru, what in the world are you doing?"

For a moment, the boy didn't respond, instead scribbling down a few more words and muttering wildly under his breath. Shikaku was about to ask him again, thinking he hadn't heard, when the boy replied.

"Crossword puzzle."

"...What?"

Shikamaru let out an annoyed noise, but didn't take his eyes from the paper. "I said, I'm doing a crossword puzzle."

Shikaku blinked in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that answer.

"Um, why?"

"Because I like them."

"Since when do you like crossword puzzles?"

"Since Ino got me into them. She came up to me last week while I was trying to nap and started complaining that I didn't ever do anything but sleep and watch the clouds. I asked her what she suggested I do, and she threw a crossword puzzle at me and just walked off. Well, I started working on it, and thought it was pretty good." He punctuated his last sentence with a grin and scribbled down another word.

Shikaku raised his eyebrow again. "Since when do you listen to what Ino says?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't. At first, I ignored what she said and didn't bother with the puzzle. But, after awhile, I got kind of bored, and started working on it, and I figured out I liked it."

The elder Nara just continued to stare at his son. Then, after a few minutes, he shrugged and went back to his newspaper.

"Whatever you say."

The two sat in silence for awhile, each absorbed in their own versions of entertainment.

Then,

"Hey, dad?"

"Hmm?"

"What's a seven letter word for a 'small creature related to the mongoose that resides in an underground burrow and tunnel system'?"

Shikaku thought for a moment, getting the same look of concentration on his face as his son.

"Huh...what about 'meerkat'?"

Shikamaru muttered under his breath, then scribbled the word down.

"Yeah, that's it. Thanks."

Shikaku nodded, and his son went back to his puzzle. He watched him for a moment, then again went back to his paper.

After a few more minutes, Shikamaru looked up again.

"Hey, dad?"

The next hour passed as such, with Shikamaru working in silence for a few minutes, then asking advice from his father, which normally would very rarely happened.

Finally, Shikaku had finished his paper, and Shikamaru had nearly finished his puzzle.

Shikaku sat back and watched as his son twisted his face into many different expressions, from satisfaction to concentration to frustration. The elder Nara smirked.

"Need some help?"

His son sighed. "Yeah..."

"Okay, give it to me."

"Alright. What's a 'ten letter word for annoying'?"

Shikaku thought about it for a moment, closing his eyes as he thought.

Then, he smiled, thinking of a word. But as he was about to state it, a loud, annoyed shriek erupted from the other room.

"SHIKAKU NARA! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE!"

Both Nara's eyes went wide, and with a grunt, Shikaku pulled himself to his feet.

"I have a ten letter word for annoying." he said dryly.

"What?"

"Y-o-u-r-m-o-t-h-e-r."

With that, he turned and left the room.

Shikamaru stared after him a moment, then scribbled down the word with a smirk.

"That works too."

* * *

><p>Like I said, reviews are very much appreciated.<p> 


End file.
